on pillows [ghazal]

Some ways   into the sky
                          we sit on pillows
one sways   into a sigh
                          we sit on pillows

the instruments are tuned
                      the poets are talking
our days   seeking reply
                          we sit on pillows

the wisdom of the world
                          gets lost in torpor
dismay's mixed in the fry
                          we sit on pillows

if now   you glimpse her face
                          anon   she's veiled
your haze   explains not why
                          we sit on pillows

how could it hurt   to smile
                          amid the ruins?
the ney's   lovers' ally
                          we sit on pillows

the curtain falls   the thunder
                          signals drama
the play's done in July
                          we sit on pillows

was Raphael   submerged
                          in depths of dreaming?
his case   when drawing nigh
                          we sit on pillows



[the rubai, expanded to a ghazal -- but I'd just assume leave its initial form intact: for if the ghazal rather obliterates the original context, the rubai anyway preserves it]

notes:
the ney -- i.e., the Persian flute
in July -- alluding to the Asian monsoon season